


What's love got to to with it

by Dmonius



Category: DCU
Genre: Alternate Universe - Kindergarten, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-04-15
Updated: 2012-04-17
Packaged: 2017-11-03 17:38:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,629
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/384102
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dmonius/pseuds/Dmonius





	1. Bruises

The silence inside the Wayne limousine was irritating, but it came from both sides. Dick had his hand still on his black eye and Bruce was deliberately trying to keep his hands from anywhere _but_ his son's black eye. The only one who did not bother at all was Alfred who sat in the front and drove the long way to the Wayne Manor. Jason sat to Bruce's right and he just stared out of the window as if nothing had happened.

“Dick,” Bruce said quietly. “Don't you want to tell me what happened at your day at kindergarten?” “No.”

Bruce sighed and turned towards his other son. “And you, Jason?”

“No.”

“And how was your day, Alfred?” Bruce asked, then.

“Perfect, Master Bruce. But I have to concentrate on the road until we reach Master Tim's daycare, Sir..”

Bruce heard how a small button was pressed and he had to sigh again when the small window, that separated him from the usual driver of his car, moved up and left him alone with his two boys. Alfred didn't take the rules concerning personal space to serious when he dealt with the boys, but this action probably meant that it was a father-son thing to do.

“Dick,” Bruce said, after a pause. “What happened with your eye?”

“I fell on the playground,” was all Dick could say. "It hurt."

“That's not what Miss Bertinell told me. You might want to reconsider your answer.”

“Aha.”

“Dick!” Bruce said, now with a rather annoyed and less patient undertone. “I've asked something.”

Dick pressed his lips together and stared on the ground. As if he could remove the attention his black eye and the swollen lip Bruce noticed a moment thereafter, Dick lowered his hand and laid both of them in his lap. Now, it was Jason's turn to sigh and he did it rather thoroughly before he said: “He knows nearly everything, Dick. Tell him what Roy said.”

“Shut up, Jason.”

“No, you shut up!”

“Why should I if...if I tell him?”

“You both shut up!” Bruce touched Dick slowly at the shoulder and turned his son's face to his; he tried one of the reassuring smiles Diana was always capable of when she dealt with the boys or her girls and nodded encouragingly. “Why did you hit Roy Harper, Dick?”

“He...he said...” The little boy totally lost his voice and a small tear appeared under his right, swollen eye, but when he tried to turn away, Bruce grabbed him and held him tight, laying his head on his shoulder. He could feel how Jason laid his head against his brother's knee. He cried a little, too, but his sobs weren't as loud as Dick's.

“What happened at your day in kindergarten, Dick?”

***

At some distant point from the Wayne limousine, Oliver Queen sat at the wheel of his car and drove slowly along the road. His two sons, the adopted Roy and Connor, sat in the back. Connor looked rather fine and joyful out of the window and Roy did so as well, but his view was sullen and still full of anger. He had folded his arms and hadn't moved them since they entered the car. If it weren't for the short t-shirt he wore on this summer day, Oliver probably wouldn't have seen the bruises and marks the fight had left today.

When they reached a traffic light, Oliver tried and gave it a shot.

“Tell me, Roy...how was your day at kindergarten?”

“Fine.”

“You sure?”

“Yes.”

They had to drive for the next traffic light until Oliver considered trying a second move, but instead he said: “And how was your day, Connor?”

 


	2. Show me how you dance

Going clubbing with Donna and Wally was usually fun. But right now, Donna was off, having problems with her little sister who had called a few minutes ago and Wally had gone to the toilet. For this reason, he felt like a wallflower when he sat at the counter and stared at his empty glass of water. With all this music in his ears it felt as if he could never hear anything else again.

Dick pulled out his mobile phone, but neither Jason nor Tim had sent him a message about their weekend activities – not that they were allowed that much. Jason still had two years until his twenty first birthday and Dick couldn't really picture Tim without the thought of diapers.

When Dick caught sight of a red head with a red, v-necked t-shirt, he turned towards the other boy and said: “Wally! What the heck took you so long?”

“Sorry, pal,” the other boy said and Dick suddenly realized that he hadn't been talking to Wally at all. “But my name's not Wally.”

“Oh...sorry, man. Didn't want to bother you.”

“No big deal. Do you wanna get something to drink?”

Dick smirked. “Shouldn't it be my turn to buy?”

“Don't worry. Such a nice ass doesn't need to. What do you want?”

Dick turned towards the other boy and went through the internal checklist he and Donna had agreed on their fourteenth birthday. He was definitely hot, seriously had style and seemed to be absolutely adorable. If he would take him home to their dorm room, Donna would totally get envious.

“A coke,” Dick said.

“You can't be serious. How old are you? Twenty five?”

“Are you kidding me with this?”

The young man smiled and shook his head. “No Way. By the way, my name's Roy.”

“Roy...like in Roy Harper?” Dick said. He moved slowly back and looked the other boy in the eye.

He seemed to be aghast. “How do you know my name?”

Dick just stood up and slowly headed towards the door, his speed increasing with every step to take. When Roy grabbed him at his wrist, he just pushed the older boy away and stormed out of the club. At the door, he ran into Wally and just said: “Sorry, Wally. I have to go home.”

***

Wally still stood in the corridor of the club and stared at the door where Dick had gotten out a few second ago. Then, he heard a stranger's voice speaking to him: “What was that about?”

“Who are you?”

When Wally turned around and caught sight of the red head who approached him, his brain machine started working because he knew that somewhere in his mind there would be an information essential to this strange guy coming forward.

“I'm Roy,” he said. “Is he a friends of yours?”

“What do you want from him?” Wally thought that he had uttered the question, but it had been Donna, who had appeared out of the shadow and stared at the second red head with a rather sullen expression on her face. “Wally, who is this guy?”

“His name is Roy,” was all he could say and it didn't seem to satisfy Donna.

“Roy?” Donna said and turned towards the stranger. “You are Roy Harper.”

“Roy Harper?” Wally thought about it again for a second, and then it hit him. “You are Roy Harper!”

“Clever,” Roy said. “So, what is this about?”

“Don't you recognize me?” Wally asked and nodded in Donna's direction. “Or her?”

“No way.”

“Of course you do! We went to the same kindergarten, remember?”

Roy looked at them closely for a second or so, and all he could say was: “Donna? Wally?”

“You owe us an explanation,” Donna said. “What did you do to Dick?”

“I don't owe you anything,” Roy said. He was about to turn back to the club, when it hit him as well.

“Oh my god,” he said, and the silence between them was only interrupted by the lousy Rihanna song the DJ had decided to play. He turned around again and looked at tham rather aghast. “Did I just hit on Dick Grayson?”

 


	3. Waterloo

“ _Wow, look who's there. Little Miss Prince and her little jester. Are these yours or did Dick bring these puppies from his circus?”_

“ _Get lost, Roy,” Donna said. “Or I'll punch you in your little misters.”_

“ _Go, Roy,” Dick said much quieter than Donna. “Leave us alone. Please.”_

***

“Dick?” It was Donna's voice at the other side of the door. She had knocked seven times, but this was actually the first instance she called his name. “Please let me in.”

“Leave me alone.”

“You know that this is actually my room as well?”

“Leave me alone.”

“Dick, if don't open the door, I'll hit you. Very hard. You know that.”

Dick looked at his image in the mirror right in front of his bed and stood up a moment thereafter. He ran his fingers through his gelled hair and sighed before he went to the door and opened it.

“You know, Donna...you do not sound that much of a girl to...”

It had to be him. Donna somehow seemed to have gotten lost the moment Dick had decided to get up, and only Roy was standing in front of the door to Dick's room.

“Hey, Dick.”

***

“ _Why should I?”_

“ _I'll say it again: I'll punch you in your little misters. Very hard and I mean it.”_

“ _Isn't it weird that you're the one who wants to hit me? Is it just me or is Dick too interested in playing with the puppies you brought from home?”_

“ _Get lost, Roy,” Donna said. She now stood up and had her hands on her hips, already clenching her fists. “If you don't stop it, I'll –“_

“ _Hey, Dick,” Roy said. “Do you also get some make-up later on or is it just Donna's Ken you want to play with, you little queer-bait?”_

_***_

Dick just had wanted to close the door when he caught sight of Roy, but the other man, much stronger than him, kept the door open and pushed him away to get himself inside. He was still wearing the v-neck and on his muscular body, it seemed pretty hot.

“Get out,” Dick said.

“Why don't you just try talk to me?”

“We had one talk too much when we were still kids. I don't want to repeat it. Get out.”

“Dick, let me try.”

Roy closed the door and leaned against it. He folded his arms into each other and stressed the muscles he had in his arms – did he still bow? Dick hadn't seen him since prep school and there he already had seemed to have taken a certain interest in his father's hobby. Dick stared down and just repeated what he just said: “Get out.”

***

_All Donna could see was Dick coming out of the little corner they had wanted to play in and running towards Roy. She cried his name out loud, but it did not work – he just ran forward and fell against Roy. Both boys fell on the grass and Dick started to hit Roy really hard – not that it seemed to work that much. Roy kept him distant with ease and looked at him rather surprised while Dick fought his heard out that moment._

“ _Dick!” Donna cried, but it didn't work. “Dick, stop it! Or I'll hit_ you _in your little misters!”_

“ _Get him off me,” Roy cried and he tried to push the angry boy away, but it didn't work._

“ _You filthy pig,” Dick cried. Donna had no idea what that acutally meant – and she was sure that Dick did neither – but she saw that Roy got his arm free and anticipated for a moment, his fist already in his hand. Dick still tried to hit and kick him with a rather embarassing lack of success, before Roy hit him under his right eye and he fell of the other boy's body._

_Donna ran to Dick and held him close. She laid her furious eyes on Roy and just screamed: “Get away from him!”_

_Roy, with the bruises on his arms, just stared and looked down. Miss Bertinelli was already on her way._

***

“Do you think they're working it out now?” Wally asked.

“Do you?” Donna sat down on the sofa in Wally's room after she had run back from the room she shared with Dick. She grabbed a few cookies and the cocoa Wally gave her.

“Not so sure. Dick's a little shy.”

“For a circus kid, you mean?”

“Actually yes.”

“Thought so. I can't believe we're doing this.”

“Actually, I didn't do anything.”

***

“Nice place, by the way.”

Dick sat on his bed again and tried not to look at Roy at all. “Go away.”

“Can't you let bygones be bygones, Dick?”

“I was the one with the black eye, wasn't I?”

“That's fifteen years ago! You look perfect now.”

“It still – wait a minute.”

Now, against all odds and willpower, Dick looked up to the other man and couldn't believe what he was seeing. Where he had been trying to recognise the young, red-haired and homophobe little boy, he now saw someone else standing at the threshold of his room. He seemed honest and full of interest, but Dick just had to force himself to look away. “Go away.”

“No way.”

He heard Roy's approach and how he sat on the bed next to him, but Dick didn't look up. Then, there came a tear into his eye when he felt Roy's hand on his shoulder.

“Hey,” Roy said tentatively. “It's okay. I won't hurt you.”

“Leave me alone, Roy,” Dick said. For a mere second, he felt the rage and fury rise up in his stomach again, but he didn't give in to it. His hand was quivering and Roy caught it with ease to hold it tight.

“Why are you so...terrified?” Roy's voice was next to his ears and Dick closed his eyes. Roy slowly caressed his palm with his thumb and kissed him on the neck.

“Stop this.”

Roy kissed Dick again and placed his index finger on the other man's chin to move his head slowly towards him; Dick had to look into the smile Roy gave him.

“Don't you think I've changed during the last fifteen years?”

“I don't know,” Dick said. “For me, you're still the bully who gave me the creeps whenever I looked upon him. You scared me, Roy.”

“Didn't you have a crush on me, then?”

“Thought so.” Dick was whispering now; maybe if he couldn't hear what he wanted to say, neither could Roy, but Roy was so close and their lips were anything but apart that Dick had to believe his belief to be untrue. “But when you did that thing to me that day...I don't think there was anything left, Roy. I'm sorry.”

“I've changed,” Roy said, his voice merely a whisper, even though the strong baritone of his voice still filled everything in Dick's pounding heart. “I'm no longer the bully you were scared of.”

“You're still giving me the creeps.”

“Let me change that.”

Dick hadn't noticed that Roy had his hand on the back of his head until Roy used it to slowly move his head towards his own and their lips met an instant thereafter. The kiss was short but intense; Roy probably pushed any mood of persuasion he could rely on into it, but Dick didn't react properly and just tried to endure. When their lips parted, he just stared down and couldn't look Roy into the eye.

“Can't say I haven't tired.”

Roy slowly stood up, but his speed increased when he reached the door with thundering steps and he banged the door as an utterance of disapproval and of course the fury Dick still wasn't capable of. He just stared at the photo of Donna and him when they were five years old and tried to keep the pity from burning anything he had on his mind.


End file.
